Step of Faith

Abraham merits three different mentions in the "amazing faith chapter” of Hebrews 11. The first mention tells us that, “Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” (Hebrews 11:8-10)

If I read Hebrews 11 without reference to the details of the story found in Genesis, I could get discouraged. The author of Hebrews presents Abraham as such a paragon of faith it would be easy to think that no other human being could possibly measure up. But his story is so instructive and so encouraging to me, because the book of Genesis honestly describes his progress from a sometimes faltering God-follower to a man of extraordinary faith, an intimate friend of God. There is hope for me as I examine the way God shaped him into the man who would fulfill God's unique purposes.

Genesis 11:31 gives us a tantalizing detail. The text reads: “Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.” Did God initially call Terah? Something must have precipitated the family’s move from Ur to Haran, but for some reason or other, they only went as far as Haran. The only other mention about this disrupted journey comes in the book of Acts. Stephen, in his historical summary of the Israelites before the Sanhedrin, says in Acts 7:2: “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land [Israel] where you are now living.”

Unfortunately, there are no real clues to explain what happened, so we must move on. Genesis, chapter 12 opens with the second call of God to Abram, to leave his country and his birth family and head to an unnamed destination—a place God would show him. God promised that He would protect Abram and that Abram would become (1) a great nation; (2) a great name; (3) and a blessing to all peoples. This promise will be reiterated and expanded on throughout Abram's life.

God didn’t give Abram much information about the necessity of a move, but something must have happened to deepen Abram's belief and trust in God during the years in Haran. Perhaps Terah’s health had been such that an elongated stop in Haran was necessary for the family, or perhaps it was a lapse of faith. In any case, Abram’s trust in God and His promises somehow increased enough for him to obey the second call with immediacy: “So Abram left, as the Lord had told him….” (Gen. 12:4)

The divine call meant that Abram had to leave the security of a known environment for the insecurity of the unknown. He had to leave the warmth of family relationships to live among strangers, some of whom might be antagonistic to him. He had to leave the comfort and sophistication of life in Ur for the tents of a nomad. In spite of the inconveniences and dangers, the divine call was enough for Abram. He moved to Canaan, pitched his tents on land that God promised his offspring would one day possess, and he built an altar and worshipped.

Abram’s obedience and entrance into a life of total dependence upon God is really a metaphor for the life of a believer. Jesus’ call to us to follow Him is just as radical, although living as we do within the trappings of 21st century comfort, it’s sometimes hard to see it that way. Abram’s focus moved from the petty minutia of daily life to “The Big Picture” of a future, permanent home. He was willing to follow God to an unknown destination and live in impermanent dwellings, because he knew, in the core of his being, that life is transitory and all that really counts are the promises of God. Our call may involve a physical move, as it did for Abram, but more likely it will mean a spiritual move from satisfying our ego-driven goals, to determining to live in God-glorifying ways—ways that will hasten the coming of His kingdom. It will certainly mean looking at the world through the lens of God’s holiness and living a life that is radically cross-cultural. It is not an easy call, nor one to be taken lightly.

Abram’s embryonic faith caused him to obey God’s call and trust God’s promises for future blessing. His initial step of faith would take him on an incredible journey of learning to dialogue actively with God, seeing God’s provide in times of stress and trouble, and coming to trust God’s promises in the most impossible of situations.

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